The English government has said that things like plastic cutlery, plates, and polystyrene trays that can only be used once will be banned.
It’s not clear when the ban will start, but Scotland and Wales have already done things like this.
Environment Secretary Thérèse Coffey said that the move would help protect the environment for future generations.
Campaigners liked the ban, but they wanted a bigger plan to reduce plastic use.
The government says that more than four billion pieces of plastic cutlery and more than 1.1 billion single-use plates are used every year in England.
Most plastic trash doesn’t break down, so it can stay in a landfill for a long time.
Even though it might help keep food clean, it can also end up as trash, which pollutes the soil and water.
The Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (Defra) has confirmed the move after a long consultation, which will be made public on Saturday, January 14.
- Wales’ ban on plastics “may not be fully enforced until 2026”
- Waste from all over the world has been found on a remote British Island.
Defra says that each person in England uses an average of 18 disposable plastic plates and 37 pieces of plastic cutlery every year, but only 10% of these items are recycled.
Ms. Coffey is going to ban a number of single-use plastic items, most of which have to do with food and drinks that you buy from a store.
“I am determined to get things done to deal with this problem head-on. We’ve already made a lot of progress in the past few years, but we know there’s still more to do, so we’ve listened to the public’s requests once again “she told me.
“This new ban will stop billions of pieces of plastic from polluting the environment and help protect the natural environment for future generations.”
Similar bans have already been put in place in Scotland, and plastic straws, stirrers, and cotton buds with plastic stems will no longer be sold in England after 2020.
In June of last year, businesses in Scotland were told they couldn’t use a number of single-use plastic items. A similar ban was passed into law in Wales in December, and it will go into effect later in 2023.
This new rule does not, however, cover things you can buy in a store or a grocery store. The government said it would find other ways to deal with them.
Megan Randles, a political activist for Greenpeace UK, said that the group was happy about the ban, but that more needed to be done.
She said, “We have a flood of plastic, and this is like grabbing a mop instead of turning off the water.”
She asked the government to come up with a “meaningful” plan for reducing the use of plastic. This plan would have strict goals and “a proper reuse and refill scheme.”
